Cornelius woman ordered to leave cul-de-sac after years of neighbor disputes

Barbara Wyatt, 62, and her husband, Elmer Wyatt, 69, moved from the home they own on North Barlow Place in Cornelius after a Washington County judge ordered Barbara Wyatt out of her house. Within a week in October, the couple purchased a mobile home in Cornelius where they now reside.MICHAL THOMPSON/THE LEADER

A lengthy neighbor clash in Cornelius punctuated by numerous calls to police, nearly a dozen court cases and one criminal conviction came to an abrupt halt this fall.

When Barbara Jeanne Wyatt, 62, told her neighbor, "Don't talk to me," that was the end. It was a violation of her no-contact order, a condition of her probation.

The drama started, at least on paper, several years ago when Ed Legler put in a concrete parking spot for an RV on his property. Wyatt said the project created water runoff that damaged her house. Legler refused to help pay for repairs, and conflict spun from there.

She and her neighbors called police often. They reported each other for annoying behavior -- name-calling, rude comments -- and more typical neighbor gripes, such as improper placement of trash cans, bad parking jobs.

As the feud continued, Bill Staples warned police in July 2010 that he was going to pave over the small patch of land between the curb and sidewalk in front of his house, and he expected that to incite trouble.

Officer Mark Jansen wrote in his report on the incident: "Several of the neighbors have video surveillance at their homes because of repeated and ongoing neighbor disputes with Ms. Wyatt. I advised Mr. Staples to make sure his video surveillance was functioning properly so that any act of vandalism would be caught on video."

Bill and Jamie Staples had just paved over their half of the curbside space, and they were video-recording as Wyatt walked to the end of her driveway, moved toward the concrete and threw an empty cardboard box to the ground. One corner of the box left a shallow indentation in the wet concrete. The Staples called police.

Wyatt was charged with second-degree criminal mischief. She pleaded guilty in January 2011 and was sentenced to 18 months probation.

The tension between the neighbors didn't dissipate with Wyatt's plea. The neighbors kept their video cameras and audio recorders rolling on the cul-de-sac. Wyatt's neighbors contacted police, the probation office, prosecutor and judge with their concerns about Wyatt's probation compliance.

The neighbors complained to authorities that they were afraid of Wyatt.

"Mrs. Wyatt is out of line and boarding that line of getting out of control again," Bill and Jamie Staples wrote to the judge in February. "I would like to avoid her actions getting to an explosive level again."

Police noted in an April report that Wyatt and Ed Legler were video-recording each other at the same time. The Staples said the footage depicted Wyatt violating her probation by being outside her house in the presence of the Staples and staring at them. In August, the judge agreed and extended her probation by a year.

In October, Judge Letourneau found Wyatt in violation of her probation again when she admitted speaking to the neighbors.

"Don't talk to me because I am not going to look at you," she reportedly said in the presence of Jamie Staples, with whom she is not allowed to have contact.

Letourneau extended her probation to July 2014, and gave her seven days to move out. After that, he said, she could not go within 100 yards of her Barlow Place residence.

To comply with the order, Wyatt and her husband say they spent $28,000 to purchase and move into a mobile home off Southwest Tongue Lane in Cornelius. They couldn't find a place to rent in the seven days the judge gave them to move, she said.

She and her husband, Elmer Wyatt, 69, have both experienced recent health problems that made moving even more inconvenient.

Wyatt's defense attorney, Betsy Rawls, said her client hasn't set foot on her prior neighbors' property, or touched them, or called them names.

The Wyatts consider the judge's order extreme. Barbara Wyatt has appealed the judge's decision.

Letourneau declined to comment.

Ed Legler said Monday the judge's order was an appropriate but only a temporary fix.

"I think it's great," he said. "The problem is it runs out in July of 2014, and she'll be back causing trouble in the neighborhood."

Though the neighbors' allegations against Wyatt can't be proven, he said, her strained relationships on the cul-de-sac have cost the neighbors a lot.

"She's the worst neighbor you could ever have," he said.

After Wyatt moved, the Staples told the judge that peace has returned to the cul-de-sac.

The Wyatts say they want to return to Barlow Place. But Barbara Wyatt fears dysfunction continuing and perhaps growing worse.

She said the neighbors and police have designed a witch-hunt against her, and have persisted in driving her out of the neighborhood.

"They have bullied us to the point they have ruined our lives," she said.

In statements to the court, the Staples have said they want Barbara Wyatt to leave them alone.

Ed Legler on Monday said the same.

In an interview with the Leader, Barbara Wyatt shared their sentiment.